Well as I know nothing of what Augustine wrote and only know that Calvin believed in predestination I don't know how I can be said to be following them. I have heard Rom 3:10-19 refered to as the
total depravity of man
I don't read up on theologians and scholars btw
as a brother, i highly recommend you do. I take the Bible first in everything that I believe, but i do understand the importance of what our pastors teach us today, and the importance of what was taught in early Christianity
Proverbs 14:15 tells us "the simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps"
the NT tells us many times to not only beware of deception, but also to "stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter." (2 Thes. 2:15)
augustine was active in the 4th century, and he was a Manichaean turned Christian. Manichaeanism was a mixture of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Gnostic Christianity. he did teach the trinity doctrine, but he also was the first to create many of the doctrines that we have seen in all of Christianity, Catholic and Protestant:
~ Absolute predestination
~ Impossibility of falling away or apostasy. (Eternal Security)
~ Man has no free will.
~ One cannot know if they are saved.
~ God commands impossibilities.
~ The supreme authority of the Roman church.
~ Purgatory.
~ Prayers for the dead.
~ The damnation of unbaptized infants and adults.
~ Sex & is sinful because depravity is inherited.
~ Suicide is the unforgivable sin
Augustine taught the very base of what we know as Calvinism because of who he was fighting against: Pelagius. Pelagius believed that a man could "will" himself into heaven, and believed in the free will of humanity... Augustine did not. Gnosticism originally teaches the duality and polarity of the flesh and the spirit:
~ the flesh is corrupt, sinful, depraved
~ the spirit is holy, sinless, perfect, and godly
Gnostic Christianity still took that into affect, and incorporated the belief that through a secret knowledge we attain salvation... it's how the Gnostic Gospels come into play.
While Pelagius taught in free will and choice, Augustine took the extreme opposite. it was then when his manichaean beliefs affected his view of what Christianity is. there was a council that was later held in determining if what Pelagius taught was either biblical or heretical. In the end, it was concluded that what Pelagius taught fell within orthodox doctrine.
i dont say this to try and impress... i say this because it counts to know our history, and where the things believe come from. quite a bit of the so-called "Christian" doctrine that we believe in has roots in Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a dangerous teaching... Manichaeanism was extremely popular in the 2nd-3rd century, and almost became more popular than Christianity.
the early church had something we dont: oral tradition. Polycarp was orally taught by the very apostle John himself, and Polycarp passed everything he was taught to Irenaeus. I will stand and say that if eternal security, or limited atonement, or double predestination did have historical credence before 300AD, then there would be a reason to consider it... however, all Calvinistic doctrine has no existence before Augustine... doctrine like that can't just pop out of thin air and immediately be called Biblical... something is very wrong with that picture
with theologians and scholars, im very cautious at what i hear... im cautious with what my pastor says, what my friends say, what my parents say, what my counselors say... I dont take them as truth at all. i always study for myself and see if what they say lines up with the Word first, then church history
